Han Shizu

Chapter 609
Kind words comforted him and made the old man retreat.Wang Zhu was beside him, subconsciously heaving a sigh of relief. He was always listening to Wang Pu's question and answer, for fear that the poor people in the village would be mediocre and talk nonsense.

The smile on Wang Pu's face was suppressed, and he regained his composure. He turned his head to look at Wang Zhu, and said peacefully, "Cheng Xiang, you know the prefecture. Come, work hard!"

"The lower officials are just doing their duty, and dare not slack off!" Wang Zhu showed a little smile, cupped his hands and said: "Compared with the hard work of the prince, what is the word 'hard work'!"

Wang Zhu's words, although suspected of being flattering, are somewhat true.In the past two years in Huaidong, Wang Pu worked hard, worked hard, and forgot to eat and sleep to secure the people and manage the government, reform the system and promote the law, so that the newly occupied land was consolidated under the Han system.The many silver threads added between his temples are proof, you know, he is less than 50 years old, and he is already very old.

For the officials in Huaidong, Wang Pu was by no means a good boss, he was stern and forceful, and even a little unreasonable. In the past two years, dozens of officials from various states were personally dealt with by him.

Among them, in addition to the retained Southern Tang officials, there were also Huainan officials selected by the imperial court to aid Huainan. For this reason, Wang Pushi offended many people at home and abroad.

However, Wang Pu has kindness to the common people, and Wang Pu has merit to the emperor's court.Huaidong states were able to quickly recover from the disaster of war, and Wang Pu made great contributions.

"Your Majesty paid me with the administration of Huaidong, so I have to think hard and do something!" Wang Pu sighed, stood up, and said to the king: "Sizhou is the hub of the Huaihe River. From the current perspective, the people's hearts are gradually attached, and the results are good. What’s more, Cheng Xiang still needs to make persistent efforts!”

"Yes!" Wang Zhu replied solemnly.

"Let's go, let's go to Guishan, I have summoned Chu Zhizhou to discuss matters!" Wang Pu said, and walked out first.

Wang Zhu followed, thought for a while, and asked, "Is it because of the restoration of the White Water Pond?"

Wang Pu admired his agility, nodded his head and said, "The imperial court has already agreed, and His Majesty named it Hongze Lake himself. This lake obliquely straddles Si and Chu, and needs to be excavated by both states!"

Guishan is adjacent to the Huaihe River, thirty miles northeast of Xuyi City, with a cliff in the southwest and a deep abyss below.Climb to the top of the mountain and stand against the wind to see the abyss.Wang wrote a lot, pointed to the foot of the mountain, and said: "It is rumored that Dayu used iron locks to control the water, and the water god Wuzhi locked the Huai vortex, which is more amazing than the foot of Guishan Mountain. It is said that this is here!"

Wang Pu nodded slightly, looked at the Huaihe River, thought carefully for a while, and said: "The water section from Xuyi to Huaiyin has always been dangerous, with hundreds of miles of wind and waves, resulting in countless overturns. For the convenience of navigation, I want to open another canal to avoid The danger of the Changhuai River. Digging from Guishan Mountain, taking the Huaihe River as the source, stretches fifty miles!"

Hearing what Wang Pu said, a tall middle-aged official beside him frowned and couldn't help saying: "Your Majesty, you will open Hongze and want to build a new river. If you do this, you will waste money and people!"

This official was Zhang Yanqing, the magistrate of Chuzhou, who was originally the defense envoy of Haizhou in the Southern Tang Dynasty. During the Southern Expedition of the Northern Han Dynasty, besides Guo Tingwei, he was another Tang official who performed outstandingly.

After the Southern Tang made peace, they also surrendered to the great Han.After Wang Pu came to power, he chose good talents. Because of his practical talents, he also served as the defense envoy of Chuzhou and was familiar with the people in the state. He recommended him to know Chuzhou.Among the old ministers retained in the Southern Tang Dynasty, one of the few was trusted by the Han court and entrusted with important positions.

As the host, Wang Pu has great kindness to Zhang Yanqing.But at this time, he still spoke bluntly and raised objections, and said to Wang Pu: "If your envoy said, although it is only fifty miles, it is not too long, but should we delay the digging of the canal?"

Listening to his persuasion, Wang Pu frowned subconsciously, and looked at Zhang Yanqing with a tilted head, only to see his steady expression.He opened his mouth, looked at Wang Zhu again, and asked, "What do you think?"

Wang Zhu also thought about it seriously for a while, then cupped his hands and said: "Even if the efforts of the two states are combined, the Hongze project will be time-consuming and wasteful. There is really no spare energy, and both sides will be pursued simultaneously. If it is forced to do so, it will only cause excessive corvee and breed resentment among the people." !"

Seeing the two, holding the same opinion, Wang Pu didn't answer for a while, but reflected on himself, and murmured: "Could it be that I'm really impatient?"

After thinking about it again, Wang Pu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Forget it, we can discuss this matter later!"

"However, Hongze Lake, the imperial court has agreed, before winter, we will dispatch cadres, allocate money and food, recruit corvee, and start the project! I expect three years to make Daze successful!" Wang Pu said firmly: " For supply matters, if there is any shortage, report to Yangzhou, and I will coordinate from Yangzhou!"

"Yes!"

When Wang Pu said this, feeling his will, the nerves of the two governors subconsciously tensed up.

Wang Pu asked: "How much people's power can be concentrated in the state?"

"Preliminary estimates, under the jurisdiction of Sizhou, 10,000 people can be transferred!" Wang Zhu calculated for a while, estimating a conservative figure.

Zhang Yanqing said: "Chuzhou can issue civilian husbands, 5000 people!"

It's already quite a lot, Wang Pu nodded with satisfaction, turned to look at Zhang Yanqing, considered his words a little, and said in a warning tone: "Hongze Lake is basically in the territory of Chuzhou. This project, Daxing Li In addition to Hongze, a large number of people's land will be occupied. For these people, the state government should provide compensation, resettle them properly, and provide them with land to help them rebuild their homes.

In addition, it is necessary to strictly prevent officials from intruding, plundering the people, and breeding public grievances.This matter is very important, by all means! "

Hearing Wang Pu's instructions, with a solemn expression, he cupped his hands and said, "Yes! I don't dare to be negligent, and I will strictly restrain myself!"

"Sizhou is the same!" Wang Pu added to Wang Zhu.

Returning to Yangzhou from Shanyang, Chuzhou, Wang Pu went along the road to inspect the counties and towns, personally questioned the people, carefully observed the people's sentiments, and inevitably encountered negligent things, and punished them. There were three lawless officials in Gaoyou County, and they knew that they were in charge. Sent to Yangzhou for trial.

Today's Huaidong officials are most afraid of Wang Pu's inspections in prefectures and counties. Basically every time, he will deal with some people.The hearts of the people are happy, but some "officials are not living well", especially for the old officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Where did they receive such strict restrictions at the beginning, it was like a sword hanging over their heads, and they were uneasy.
After more than half a month, he returned to Yangzhou.

Yangzhou City, under Wang Pu's governance, has completely restored its former prosperity, even better than that under the Southern Tang Dynasty.After all, under the Dahan policy, too many miscellaneous government donations have been abolished, and "fairness" has been promoted to a certain extent.

With Wang Pu, the cold-faced god, under the stable and good order, with the background of Yangzhou City, a huge energy burst out quickly, and the prosperity of Yangzhou City was not affected at all when the disaster happened.

The first thing he did when he returned to the chief minister's yamen was to gather his subordinates to listen to the government and make decisions. During his absence in Yangzhou, he had a backlog of official affairs.

In the second hall, Wang Pu observed the matter with a straight face, and all the bureaucrats sat in it, respectfully submitting reports, and no one dared to touch him.Of course, Wang Pu is upright and righteous, and these people still treat him with awe and respect.

From noon to evening, the yamen hall became deserted again, and a series of Daozhou affairs piled up on the hall case.

But Wang Pu never rested, the sunset was dark, and the servants held the lamps.When the old servant walked in lightly with the meal in hand, what he saw was still the figure of Wang Pu reading documents at his desk under the lamp.

"Your Majesty, you are a day-time director. You have been sitting on the case for four hours in a row. You should rest for a while and have a meal!" the old servant advised.

Wang Pu raised his head and signaled: "Let's put it away for now. I'll wait until I finish reading this official document!"

After finishing speaking, he lowered his head again. What he inspected were some official documents handled by Taoist officials, wanting to see if there were any inappropriateness or omissions.
Watched carefully, but heard the sound of whimpering.Looking up, I saw the old servant, who had already set the table and chopsticks, was crying with his sleeves up.Wang Pu was stunned: "What are you doing, why are you sobbing?"

"If you are so diligent and don't take care of your body, the villain can't bear it!" The old servant said: "The official duties will never be exhausted. If you continue like this, your body will be exhausted."

Seeing this, Wang Pu couldn't help but chuckled and said, "It's only been two or three years! I can assure the court that Huaidong has been governed for five years. After these years, some of them are free to rest!"

However, following his persuasion, Wang Pu put down his official duties and picked up the bowls and chopsticks to eat.After eating it all at once, he asked, "Where are Sanlang and Shiro? Have they eaten?"

"You two gentlemen, you have already used it."

"You tell them to go to the study room, I will test their studies later, and see if they are slack during my absence!" Wang Pu ordered, pushing rice into his mouth.

"Yes!"

Wang Pu has four sons under his knees. The eldest son and the second son are all adults and serve in the army.The third and fourth sons were young, and they were brought by his side and trained by him.

In less than a moment, Wang Pu finished his supper, stretched his waist, relieved his troubles, and opened the official document again
The old servant was packing up the tableware, and couldn't help sighing when he saw it: "Your servant is so busy with business, but do you know how others criticize you? Little man, I really feel worthless for you!"

"Talk!" Hearing what he said, Wang Pu raised his head and reprimanded him softly.

After a pause, Wang Pu sighed quietly, and said with a light smile: "What I did was for the common people of Li, for the security of Huaidong, and for His Majesty's general plan. It wasn't for the honor and disgrace of these officials, and I couldn't give them comfort. Even if they Neither self nor self-hate is enough."

(End of this chapter)